The Continent of Illyrium

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Illyrium, a continent housing six nations, each a powerhouse in its own right. It is said that the continent was cleaved from clay by the old gods, and above it all is the ominous golden crack in the sky, of which no one knows what it is or where it came from.

The Six Nations are as follows:

The Kingdom of Seraphane, The trade hub of the world, ruled by King Dane and Queen Ayoh. The capital city is Polarii, a shining city with singing towers, and an enormous cathedral constantly chanting prayers to the gods. As a military, the Seraph are bolstered by their monks, pegasus knights and war clerics in addition to the standard army of archers, soldiers, cavaliers and knights. They despise dragons, and thus have a tense relationship with the kingdom of Cymru. They are nominally allied with the Republic of Thanin, though they are wary of the Golden Army's 'border patrols' that look suspiciously like mobilizing legions.

The Kingdom of Cymru, the land of dragons and dragonkin. Long ago, the nation was founded by a self-proclaimed king who was the infamous mass-murdering bandit, The White Tarantula. White Tarantula eventually fell for a silver dragon, and the two bore a son, who later killed his murderous father. After hundreds of years of inter-family intrigue and murder, the nation was solidified as the eternal bastion of dragons and those born of them. King Isaac Dragonis rules with a benevolent hand, though he is still a descendant of White Tarantula, and thus, there is always that underlying madness that befalls every member of the Dragonis clan eventually. Naturally, the Cymru military are the sole users of Wyvern Riders, Wyvern Knights and Wyvern Lords, as well as Manakete who volunteer for military duty. Half-Dragons and other dragonkin make up a sizeable chunk of the population of this nation.

The Republic of Thanin, an ancient nation, one of Illyrium's first. For a thousand years, it has been the home of what is now called the Golden City, Aura. Thaninites built the first roads and aqueducts to aid the farmlands around their burgeoning empire, and the trade routes and these roads still stand strong today. The government of Thanin is run by two castes, the warrior caste, reigned by the Dictator Perpetuous, Aurelios Thanos, and the merchant caste, overseen by Senator Titus Canus. Together, these two men have kept up Thanin's rigid adherence to their ideas of 'perfection'. Symmetrical bodies and faces, statuesque physiques, and graceful features. Education is immensely important in Thanin, and anyone who is uneducated is considered imperfect, and thus one of the 'untouchables', outcasts of society. Thanin has its own unique military, with Legionnaires replacing regular soldiers and knights, Centurions replacing generals, and charioteers replacing cavaliers.

The Krev Tsardom, The Black Marshes and irregularly shaped mountains mark the borders of the Krev Tsardom, a nation shrouded in rumor and hearsay. Ruled by the Toskov family, headed by Tsar Alexei Toskov and Tsarina Katy Toskova, from the capital city Krev, this nation is the centre of research both scientific and magical. Countless scholars and casters are studying the crack in the sky as best they can, while new magics are developed every year. Naturally, this means that most Mages and Shamans come from Krev, or at least studied at Krev's Magic Academy. Replacing the usual Paladins are Krev's Hussars, heavily armored mounted soldiers wearing wings or battle standards on the back of their armor. Most mounted units also decorate their horse tack with the heads of enemy officers they have slain as a scare tactic. As far as the Krev people are concerned, the Tsar's family line is divinely mandated by the gods and that the Seraphane's rulers are blasphemers, so there is a tension between the two nations.

The Yanni Khanate, to the east of Thanin lies the rolling hills and plains of Yanni. The nomadic tribes that live here were scattered and constantly warring amongst themselves for centuries, until forty years ago, when a chieftain named Tseng declared himself Khan of Khans. Over time, he had unified the nomads of every tribe, either through force, coersion or political marriages of his dozens of sons and daughters. When Tseng passed away ten years ago, he gave the rule of the Khanate to his eldest son, Orsk. Orsk renamed himself The Golden Khan, and the horde became known as the Golden Horde. Naturally this is confusing to the average citizen who lives on the borders between Yanni and Thanin, with the Golden Horde constantly in conflict with the Golden Army. Peerless horsemen, excellent swordsmen, and terrifyingly accurate archers come from Yanni, with the Golden Horde full of Nomad Troopers, Rangers, Forresters, and Myrmidons.

The Weischel Islands, a coalition of pirates, scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells who form what is considered the world's largest and most powerful navy in history. Initially a smuggler's cove, Weischel slowly expanded from a den, to a fort, and from a fort to a castle, and from a castle to a city. Each of the major islands on the archipelago followed suit, and the leaders of each island formed a band known as the Five Pirate Kings. The Pirate Kings swore blood oaths to each other to always aid their fellow pirate in times of war, and that plunder was to be distributed equally amongst each other. Every two years an election is held on each island, and a new pirate king is voted in for that island. The current kings (and two queens) have been harrassing Cymru lately, and occasionally prodding Krev as well. Weischel despises magic and magic users, and there is a law on each island that any captured mages are to have their tongues cut out so they cannot cast spells, and to be used as slaves to the whims of the various ship crews and captains. Because of this, casters kill themselves rather than be captured by pirates when finding themselves set upon by Weischel raiders. Naturally, the naval boarding parties are made of Pirates, Berserkers and some excellent Thieves and Archers.